I am also looking to replace windows in my 105 year old Victorian home in IL. I spoke to 3 vendors. Andersen pricing was not out of reach for us. Sierra Pacific Window vendor recommended Sash Replacements instead of full blown replacement windows. Has anyone ever did a Sash Replacement? Our window trim is in good shape and we are in a Historical District. I'm leaning more towards Sierra Pacific Sash Replacement as opposed to the Andersen Replacement Windows 400 Series. The price difference is about $9000K.

Hi Mercedes. I am the national director for Sierra Pacific replacement division. I will be glad to answer any questions you may have on the Sash Replacement System. It’s a great option if your existing frames are in good shape without having to tear out the entire window. No window treatments or interior trim is removed and you can even opt to have the interior factory stained to match existing or prepainted. As you have found, the cost is significantly less than others.

doporter@spi-ind.com

Marvin and Kolbe make sash pak's as well.

yes but they both still use white vinyl compression jambliners from the 1970's that require compressing the jambliner and forcing the sash in to tilt them. I have installed both of those products as well. Sierra Pacific Sash kit uses concealed jambliner as standard with the outside of liner clad to cover the vinyl to match the sash clad, and interior wood cover to match the interior wood of the new sash. Much nicer asthetically - and has an optional screen channel built in if you need new screens so you can order new half or full screen at the same time! Also has tilt hardware so they are much easier to tilt in for cleaning, and the jambliners are adjustable so you can acheive a perfect fit.

Great to hear David. So these Sash Replacement kits come in half screen as well. Which aesthetically will fit my home best. Can you confirm? I'm from Chicago, who is your main distributor in our area?

Mercedes we used to live in Highland Park and used Estates Windows for our then Hurd windows. I believe they're in Lake Bluff but may be someone closer to you, Evanston Lumber perhaps.

U can visit our company showroom in Elk Grove Village or one of our installing dealers. Visit www.sierrapacificwindows.com for a list of dealers. Installing dealers are listed as Transcend.

I did my own research for windows in our new home construction. Anderson, Eagle, plygem, simonton, geldwen, window world, Marvin integrity and Ultimates, Pella 400, 700 and 800 series. In my opinion your best bang for your buck is the marvin integrity as fiberglass lasts far longer than any other, more forgiving, and with the tests on that in the Arizona desert still going strong after nearly 15 years the warranty will most likely be extended to 20 years, but you don't get the nicer inside finish that the ultimate has or the pellas. SierraPacific will warranty theirs for 30 years, at an additional cost to you. I priced them all out and the Pella Architectural Reserve was breathtaking when my wife and I went to the showroom to view them. The warranty was limited lifetime, but read the small print as after a few years it expires if you sell the home. Marvin ultimate aluminum clad was $27,000, Integrity was $22,450, Pella Arch Reserve was $30,000. Plygem was cheapest- not for custom home, all others cheape. What is your budget, what details do you want, how much time are you prepared to put into finishing them yourself. I could go on with my research but we are down to Marvin Ultimates versus Pella Architectural Reserve, and no matter how many customer complaints BBB has on them they are both still rated A+ by the BBB. Hope this helps but looking at the dates of your responses I would guess you already bought your windows. Good luck

Can you tell us what other window manufacturers you like? Why do you think there are so many bad reviews of Sierra Pacific here? Did they change? Thank you!!!

Andersen better than

Andersen better than

M

Marvin

"Why do you think there are so many bad reviews of Sierra Pacific here? Did they change?"

Poor fit and finish, lower quality design and construction, poor performance, poor customer service.

Marvin is about the best available wood window available. E series Andersen, Kolbe, Loewen are all considered quite good wood windows as well.

I've read some bad things about Kolbe. Is that not your experience?

FWIW, we have a variety of Loewen windows and doors in our new house. We've had a number of problems from locks breaking off to extremely difficult or nearly impossible to open/close.

Rep is working on getting a growing list of problems resolved. Hopefully they get resolved and we'd happily recommend Loewen to others but right now I'd say to stay away from Loewen given our experience.

Kolbe as a whole is quality product. Everyone has issues from time ti time. It is not the issue that is generally the problem, it is how the situation is handled. Kolbe from what I know has always been good with handling issues. Their distributors have been shaky from time to time. In my opinion vetting the distributor is almost as important as vetting the dealer.

I hear that. Thanks.

Kolbe has an attractive product line (finishes) but they are much more likely to leak.

We just finished installing over $ 150k of Sierra Pacific windows in one project and the finish, fit, and water tightness were/are excellent. The owners opted for the 2605 finish- about a 6% upcharge- which gives them a 30 year warranty, the best in the business and the warranty even covers waterfront homes here in Florida which is unusual. Regardless of what window you select, I would pay for the higher warranty and make sure the paint is applied via powder coat which means you should stay away from fiberglass windows. If the paint is sprayed as opposed to powder coated (fiberglass windows must be sprayed), you lose about half of the thickness in the drying process and the manufacturers DO NOT add thickness initially to make up for this difference.

gregorykwall I will need to comeback later on this but what? Interesting first post as well.

"Kolbe has an attractive product line (finishes) but they are much more likely to leak."

How can you back this up or is it your opinion?

Thanks Gregory.

Anyone have thoughts on Milgard? They have a full lifetime warranty.

Marvin makes many kinds of windows so its necessary to be specific about what you are considering.

We opted for Sierra Pacific in our new constrtruction in N. Cal. installed in 2009. ive had to replace close to 50% for failures (fogged) in the period under warranty, there was cost involved. now that no longer under warranty im faced with 2 more failed windows and 2 doors.

Huge Thank You for the input! :)

Marvin has stopped making retractable screens for windows which will prevent us from choosing their windows for our home (Jan. 2022). The retractable screens for us are a must. We have no place to store screens and since we have a marvelous view, we don't want to look through screens all the time.

We are considering Kolbe windows however 3 different window showrooms advised us against buying their windows saying they are over-priced and have poor service. All three recommended Sierra Pacific. With respect to Sierra Pacific, we are particularly taken with the fact that they offer FeelSafe hurricane resistant products zone IV (we live on the coast), are a vertically integrated company, and by all accounts, offer positive service and warranties. They are also less expensive and those showing windows feel that SP is the same or similar product to Kolbe with at least as many options offered in the way of finishes, moldings, handles etc.

The flip side is that our contractor says that for double hung windows, Sierra Pacific doesn't offer the locking mechanism that the higher end windows offer. This means that the top falls down often if not locked properly. He also doesn't feel that overall, Sierra Pacific has the same quality as Kolbe or Marvin. As for price, Kolbe was lots more expensive than the Marvin Ultimate and both are vastly more expensive by thousands than the Sierra Pacific. Does anyone have any thoughts on these comparisons?

Sierra Pacific has never been known as a quality product and in no way shape or form comparative to either Kolbe or Marvin and would never use or recommend anything they make. I would definitely not let retractable screens stop me from a quality window. Personally I think if they stopped making them it was due to the fact that most people went with Phantom or the like as they are most definitely a higher quality retractable screen. Kolbe is damn near equal quality wise to Marvin although there dealer network is not as strong, at least in my area.

"...we are particularly taken with the fact that they offer FeelSafe hurricane resistant products zone IV (we live on the coast), are a vertically integrated company..."

Vertically integrated for a window company is a bit sketchy.

Starting with glass, no residential window company in North America makes their own glass nor applies their own LowE coatings. And like SP, Kolbe and Marvin also offer hurricane resistant products that in all three cases the impact glass package comes from Cardinal as do coatings and more than not the finished IG units as well.

If they are discussing window sash/frame then SP does own a good bit of forest land where they get much of the lumber used in their windows, but then so does Marvin (not certain about Kolbe). And that doesn't consider any of the other window component parts of any that are outsourced.

I second the comments of both MWM & Oberon.

We started a kitchen remodel project last spring (in Minneapolis). Our contractor put off ordering our Marvin Ultimate double hung for 12 weeks- by the time he tried to order, Marvin was 26 weeks behind… we wound up ordering Sierra Pacific Westchester double hung. Since they were installed in November, we really haven’t lived with them actively. I’m not thrilled with the wood jamb liners (though they look nice), some came cracked (our contractor assures me that can be fixed)… we’ve never heard how the pricing compared or received a credit. He says if we’re not happy he’ll replace. With all I’m hearing, it sounds like we’ve gotten a worse window.

Does any company have the perfect windows?
I was considering Marvin but I wasn’t my windows to come painted white on the interior and want the option to choose an almond or cream color on exterior.
Evidently, Marvin doesn’t have that option so have been looking at Sierra Pacific but after reading reviews , I just don’t know.
I am replacing windows, not new construction and was planning on jamb liners (I think that’s what it’s called), not inserts.
Someone please advise!
Should I look at Anderson?
I was afraid they were cost prohibitive

No company makes perfect windows, and Marvin is no exception, but they arguably make the best production wood window in the country, while SP/Hurd....does not.

"...but I wasn't my windows to come painted white..."

If wasn't is supposed to be want, then have you considered other than wood windows? Or when you think of Marvin are you thinking of one of their fiberglass window lines?

Any Andersen window line should be less expensive than Marvin clad wood windows, but if you are looking at Marvin fiberglass then pricing will vary between the two companies depending on what product lines you are considering.

Yes, it was supposed to be “want my windows to come painted white on the interior “
I believe the Marvin windows that I was considering were the Elevate.
I think they are wood clad as were the SP that I was considering.
It’s all very confusing to me and then when I read reviews, I REALLY don’t know what to do.

Marvin Elevate is a fiberglass/wood window, but it's not technically a clad window in the sense that a wood window is aluminum clad. Rather consider it a fiberglass window with a wood interior.

Personally I would go with Marvin 10 times in 10 given your options.

"Personally I would go with Marvin 10 times in 10 given your options."

Maybe even 11 out of 10 in my opinion.

We had a very bad experience with the Marvin company.

What was your experience?

Finish on the fiberglass window if I am not mistaken

Thank you so much for your recommendations.

Adrian, did Marvin correct the problem?
I also meant that we are doing sash kits not jamb liners. Still trying to learn window talk.

My husband and I had a home built in Louisiana in 2005. We chose Marvin for our home due to reviews and references from other builders and contractors. I have got to give it to Marvin their windows are beautiful and held up through 2 hurricanes. The only complaint is with their service. We had 1 double hung window in the garage that had to be repaired 3 times. It simply would not stay up. After the third time the Marvin representative said it was an installation problem and suggested that we replace it at our own expense. Also getting in touch with someone to come and give us service was terrible.

Was that an actual Marvin rep or a rep for the dealer?

I thought reading these posts would help in making a decision on our new build in north Alabama. We are doing a custom build on a high end house. The architect has suggested Marvin, Lincoln, Kolbe, Sierra Pacific, Quaker or Loewen. The builder narrowed it to Sierra Pacific or Loewen based on local support and service - Huntsville area. Windows and doors are estimated at around $108,000 using Sierra Pacific. We will add $34,000 to that total if we go with Loewen. It sounds like going to a showroom is not going to be helpful because what are the sales reps going to say besides ”Ours is the best.” It just sounds like they all have issues.

Or is great installation the key?

Still confused.

From my perspective Marvin, Kolbe or Loewen are all quality products. Installation being the key. Lincoln, Quaker and S/P would not be in my thoughts for 3 seconds.

vswilliams personally I would still advise going to a showroom and looking at the specific window type you plan to go with. You can still learn much and ask specific questions pertaining to your needs and wants and what ifs. Goes way beyond sales rep telling you their product is the best, make them tell you why it is the best. Major investment, you should educate yourself as much as possible.

"Goes way beyond sales rep telling you their product is the best, make them tell you why it is the best."

They are salesman, they will have a litany of reasons why their product is best. If your going to do this you need to do much research on the back end. That is why this site can be a valuable resource. Read posts here and watch for who gives advice and how they give advice. Some pro's will not slam another project product, they will just allude to the why others are much better. Me, I have no dog in the residential window hunt, and will pretty much call a spade a spade. Not saying not to go to showrooms but remember they are salesmen and some are very good (even though their product is crap, lol).

"From my perspective Marvin, Kolbe or Loewen are all quality products."

I would not include Loewen in that list. We've had numerous problems with our Loewen windows and a neighbor had to actually file a lawsuit (he won IIRC) due to problems.

We have Marvin windows in our house and after 15 years or so, the seal was not good on several windows. Moisture got between the glass. Also on several, the wood rotted on the corners - again, I think the seal wasn't great. We live in NY. This could be due to poor installation but we had a very reputable builder and did not have problems with other things in our house.

We have a second home at the beach, and we just looked into Marvin again but will not be buying them. The reason is that they have discontinued the pull-down screens. This is very important to us due to the fact that we have no place to store screens and it defeats the purpose of living on the water to look through screens all the time.

Moisture between the glass would not be caused by poor installation. Rather, it would be caused by a defective manufacturing issue or due to some type of unusual situation where the normal wear was affected. For instance, extreme variations in temperature due to orientation or something going on regarding the interior of your home. I design and specify windows for homes in Florida almost all of them on the water or close by. Sierra Pacific offers a 30 year warranty on its 2605 finish and 20 year warranty on its patented Coreguard wood treatment and I would consider those windows. Andersen performs well too but they reduce their 20 year warranty to 10 years when on the coast. In my 40 year career, I have had great success with Andersen and SP and would run away from Pella if you are looking for an aluminum clad wood window. Just my opinion based on more than a hundred installations.

https://youtube.com/shorts/LpgXnqhPdaU?si=ggFuSJaG1lsJb7hh